Look how far we have made it, folks. We’re in December. We’re in the holiday season. And it won't be long until the year-end countdown comes into play for this page. That's all I can think of when it comes to the introduction to this review. That and also telling y'all that the Final Round of the 2023 Battle of the Week Voting Tournament is here between Jolyne Cujoh and Louise Belcher for the championship title. We have got a match, so if y'all have the time, go and vote. Links on my social pages.
In this week's episode of Bob's Burgers, the Belcher family films a video of Louise being a top-shot world-renowned archer and just in time too...for a zombie apocalypse to take place and it looks like the lies are starting to eat her butt as the situation gets worsen by the minute in my spoilerific review of the ninth episode of Season 14 of Bob's Burgers, titled "Fraud of the Dead: Zombie-docu-pocalypse”.
Yeah, might as well get this out of the way regarding what happened leading up to the episode premiere and that is about Central Park. Yeah, it does suck that the show was going to get canned and the lack of news regarding the status of where the series is going had been the warning flag that’s been waving for months and uh...not the news that the fans got when they heard that it got canceled and this is coming from co-creator Josh Gad saying the announcement when responding to a fan on Threads. Don't know whether or not, once the review is posted, that Loren Bouchard, who is also the co-creator of the show, make it official-official online, even though it is official-official. But yeah, sucks to hear that the show has come to a quiet close and the show does deserve better if we’re gonna be honest. I had the article reaction piece posted not too long ago if you want to read that. Available for anyone to check out.
Going back to the subject, this being this episode. And much like with “Escape from Which Island” a few weeks ago, we got ourselves a “spooky” episode to make up for the lack of Halloween episodes...episode plural, where the show may have to treat it as an apology letter because we didn’t have one this season. But it’s not a full-on Halloween episode because that would require the Fall setting, the kids having to be in costumes, and I guess they miss out on trick-or-treating from time to time. And quite the comparison with this week’s episode and “Escape from Which Island”...there’s only one comparison and that is both episodes had the horror aspect and theme being mixed into those episodes where you’d think that it’s a Halloween episode, but it’s not and it’s just there in trying to create shock value. They did it with Bob and Fischoeder’s visit to the island with a weekend retreat gone wrong and in this week’s episode, you have to deal with a zombie invasion.
However, that shock invasion with the zombie invasion that is being caught on candid camera comes with a bit of a...I guess a moral based on why lying is wrong. Especially when thinking that you're hot shit that came out of nowhere over something like archery, only to be battle-tested once at a world-ending event like a zombie apocalypse where the cracks are starting to form and we have seen that with Louise in this episode. So, for the second time this season, we got ourselves a quote-on-quote “spooky” episode that is trying its hardest to be a de facto Halloween episode, even though it’s not, might as well break the episode down and go on the play-by-play to this episode. This is “Fraud of the Dead: Zombie-docu-pocalypse”.
The episode starts with a bit of a change in quality going from the usual quality we have seen with the show to more of an analog-style of quality as if we're watching something coming out of a VHS tape if you young folks do not know what VHS is. For a moment there, I thought the network accidentally put in a clip from the Mandela Catalogue. You know, that recent creepypasta that's been around the internet for I guess a month or two. Pretty sure the folks over at the show or the network wouldn’t do that unless there’s some interference with the feed or some random asshole decided to play cute and hijack it. But no, the change in quality by having the episode, the entire episode, being recorded through a tape recording camera, showcasing Louise in the film as what Tina, voicing over the recorded film, describes her younger sister as the world’s best archer. Her being a hot shot for the whole world to see.
And you already know right away that this is a home-produced movie. A home movie you might say and no, it's not the show that Loren Bouchard previously worked on before working on this show. But does feel like a home movie because of the way it is edited and we'll get to the acting and cinematography. But you know that it's a home movie when you notice the editing like with Louise shooting an arrow towards her targets, the zombie transformation, the slaying of the zombies later into the episode, where it's all the kids' doing in making their own film. Mostly because it is Louise's doing when coming up with the film, with the help from the family and some others who had to be involved. Gunning for the horror theme of the film and blending it with a documentary, which is where the movie was heading with Louise in character being some sort of hot shot archer for the whole world to see. Though a ballsy move to have the archery scene at the start of the film uploaded to YouTube without having it unlisted and have the comments come out in full force. Sending all positive comments onto the video, even though some of the times, you would have comments that would come out negative. Claiming that it’s fake or thinking that she doesn't have a shot...with some spam comments about winning a $500 gift card that you didn't even enter or want to check out big boobied women, only to have your device to pick up a virus and your information stolen.
And we might as well follow what we, or rather I, think of the movie than the episode itself even though the home movie is the episode itself, except for a few scenes in the fourth act. We get to the documentary portion of the film even though it's supposed to be a documentary where Louise gets interviewed by Tina, who is holding the camera...in which you have Gene also holding the camera and filming Tina to go for the documentary of the documentary with the two oldest siblings having to take the role of camerapeople. Louise gets interviewed with a series of questions and answers right away from her personal life to how she took up archery to where we are now with her self-proclaiming herself as the “world’s best archer”. Though knowing that it has to be a film by the kids, under Louise's writing and direction, can't have Tina and Gene be the siblings and have Louise be the only child in the film. Other than that, she answers the questions about her personal life working part-time at the restaurant to her getting the archery kit that she got on Christmas. I'm already betting that she got the archery kit from the store from last season. You remember last season in "Gift Card or Buy Trying" when Louise wanted to get her hands on the archery kit despite being over the $20 limit that the family had to split the $100 gift card that they got from a random customer and then had to give up her portion along with the family to Linda to get the sewing machine. Tell me that this isn't the same archery kit that Louise laid her eyes on last season. Oh yeah, and we also got Bob and Linda interviewed with Bob wanting Lousie to not shoot her arrows around the house and the restaurant, but Linda doesn't seem to mind, despite that it could pose harm to anyone to the point where a lawsuit might be ready to fire away.
Tina wants to see Louise fire the bow and arrow without the use of editing in action right as they get off the seat but looking at Louise and the way she acts and talks when Tina brought up the idea of her wanting Louise to shoot without using the past video clips or having to use the power of editing to do the job, the cracks are starting to form. What does that mean? Looking at the way Louise talks and acts the moment Tina brings up the idea of Louise firing the arrow without the magic of editing or the use of past clips, you notice that something smells fishy regarding Louise and her occupation of her being an "expert" archer. She wants Tina to use the powers of editing or use past clips at her request. Her trying to weasel her way out by claiming that her arm is becoming sore because of her schoolwork and her job at the restaurant where she doesn’t have the time or the power to fire an arrow.
When the plot synopsis to this episode came out a few weeks ago with Louise proclaiming herself to be a "world-renowned archer" and having a documentary crew, that being Tina and Gene, film her as if she's some sort of internet celebrity and knowing that the word "fraud" is in the episode title, you already know that Louise is lying her way to get to fame and a situation like a zombie apocalypse, and we’ll get to that in a bit, would be the ultimate test to prove herself. And the way Louise, as the character in the home movie and not herself, acts as if she tries to weasel her way out of doing Tina’s request of firing the arrow without any use of editing or showing past clips, it’s putting a lot of pressure onto her as if she’s only doing this for clout chasing. And clout is a dangerous drug to take if you’re trying to make a name for yourself like what Louise in the movie is doing with her self-proclaiming to be the “world’s best archer” and having a following online. You might as well declare that Louise in the movie is having a bit of an ego trip of her being hot shit with the archery business but if history has taught us, ego can be one's downfall, and the way Louise acts in the film once Tina comes up with the idea of wanting her to fire the arrow without the use of editing or showing any of the past clips she recorded, the cracks have started to form and it looks like the lies are starting to play catch-up with her. Speaking of zombies...
It looks like the zombie invasion has begun where we have Teddy in zombie makeup and acting out the role as he knocks on the door of the restaurant with the family notices that Teddy seems a little off, but attempts to brush it off by thinking that he was just there for a burger despite the place being closed for the night. The family noticed that Teddy was off when he kept on knocking on the door of the restaurant and thought that his hunger was causing him to act off than normal. Maybe he should've grabbed himself a Snickers, just putting it out there. Of course, this is where things in the film begin to somewhat pick up once they see Mort getting attacked by a zombified Teddy, who then turns Mort into a zombie, thus, we have a zombie apocalypse underway invading the restaurant and surrounding the building.
Though quite the odd choices of finding actors for the film when having Bob and Linda to play the extras besides themselves when seeing Bob in a mullet as if he’s dressed up as a trucker driving through the highway up north and Linda as an old woman and that’s been Bob and Linda’s positions when getting the casting gig alongside Mort and Teddy. Besides, this is the best that the kids can muster when it comes to the casting department. So, it looks like everyone is screwed with the zombies about to storm the building like it's January 6 at the Capitol, and on the verge of breaking into the restaurant. So it looks like the Belchers are pretty much screwed but it looks like not all hope is lost because Tina brought up Louise for being an expert archer who might save everyone from the zombie invasion...or so we thought...
Because you have Louise here when Tina brought her name out of mouth being the supposed savior that could get the family to safety and seems to be frozen as if she's likely going to get exposed and on camera for the potential fraud that she is as if she's George Santos and that guy got expelled from congress as of late for being the fraud that he is. A lot of pressure is being built onto Louise just as the zombie invasion is taking place and the one time the whole family is dealing with a situation that is way out of their control, a world-ending event mind you, and Louise having herself froze as if she knew that she isn't hot shit would be the last thing anyone wants to see or hear. And mind you, in the middle of a world-ending event. End of the first act of the episode with the family in panic mode when having to deal with the zombies and, oh yeah, the glass of the window forming a crack because of cheap-ass glass. Hopefully, that won’t be the Belchers’ potential downfall like a zombie invasion with the cause being cheap window glass that can easily break. Can’t even afford unbreakable glass or at least bulletproof glass. Just putting it out there the next time you may need to replace your windows.
On to the second act of the episode with the family being sitting ducks and Louise being frozen over the fact that Tina dared to add pressure to Louise to prove that she is truly the best archer in the world. Mind you, she’s being caught on candid camera and the cracks on her lies are starting to expand. Louise brings up the idea of boarding up the restaurant to make sure the zombies do not come into the restaurant. This would be the first thing to do when dealing with something like a zombie apocalypse, though surprising that the movie didn't bring in an emergency alert or a news alert about something that caused people to become zombies. Like... no explanation of how the zombie apocalypse came to be, even though I can see people saying that the cause of the zombification of people was being caused by a virus or a fungus that could poison our food supply can feel a bit worn out and yeah, y'all might be on the money on that. Especially with the rampant success of the live-action adaptation of The Last of Us earlier this year. Besides, I think the writing process for this movie turned into heated debates over whether or not the cause of the outbreak should be explained. The Belchers barricaded the front side of the restaurant but didn't even notice until Tina brought it up about the backside where the alley is. And if that's not bad enough for the Belchers when dealing with the zombie invasion...
You have Rudy, Andy, and Ollie outside who are trying to run away from the invasion and hoping to not become a part of the zombie's unlimited buffet meal, and bad timing for the Belchers to barricade the front door. So they have to go to the back as their only way to get to safety despite that they were planning on barricading the door next, even though the backdoor is made of steel and unless the zombies somehow picked up superhuman strength enough to knock the steel door down, there shouldn't be too much of an issue. And going to the next scene, Louise, of course, has her bow and arrow but is pretty sure she doesn't want to do it because she wants to run away from the truth, but you also have Linda arming herself with a frying pan like she's Rapunzel and even hit Bob a few times before Bob opens the door to let the three boys in for their safety. And so, they did. The family lets Rudy and the Pesto Twins into the house, not explaining what happened back there with their families, even if it's all for the movie and it's best to not explain it and just go along with it. Besides, they too had to be involved in this film from the kids' perspective when it came to the casting. And speaking of casting that some of y’all are questioning, you have one of the zombies that Rudy and the Twins are away from...
And it’s Jimmy Jr as a zombie making his way towards the backdoor and on their way to attack the three boys. I get Rudy and the Twins being a part of the movie since this is Louise’s doing when it comes to the casting...Jimmy Jr seems to be the odd one. I could see that Louise needed an extra person for the movie and Jimmy Jr seems to be the one who is available to take the role. Especially when being in zombie makeup as one of the zombies storming the restaurant. But I wouldn't be too surprised if this was Tina's doing when it comes to finding anyone, mostly at school, and I could see either Louise or Tina coming up toward him and asking to be a part of the film and without going through the audition process, as long as he gets into zombie makeup and tries to impersonate the dance from Michael Jackson's Thriller. However, it seems surprising that it's only Jimmy Jr took part in the movie and didn’t bring Zeke into doing the movie. In fact, any of the Belcher kids’ friends didn't make it to this film. Feels like a crime, yes, but I guess it’s either they’re fine with the casting they got or probably wait for the sequel of this film to go into production. And to no one’s surprise, if you’re a Tina/Jimmy Jr shipper, you have Tina being swooned by Jimmy Jr in zombie makeup because the movie that the kids made combined the two things that would make Tina go out of character in this scene and this won’t be the only time because she did it again later in the episode are zombies and Jimmy Jr, two of Tina’s obsessions combined into one.
The Belchers, now with Rudy, Andy, and Ollie, are in Screws-ville, a population of eight with Tina recording herself to the camera and telling the viewer about the situation they’re in now that they are barricaded inside and need to think of something to survive. The food portion shouldn't be too much of a concern for everyone since this is a restaurant, a burger restaurant where they had to rely on burgers and fries, but at least they got food to survive. Don't know about water since I know that it's a world-ending event like a zombie apocalypse. Who knows if the water is going to be safe to drink or bathe or whatever? You have Tina talking to the camera while you have Bob and Linda making food for the kids to consume. And if that's not enough, you have Rudy in a state of panic with him rocking back and forth with Louise telling him to hold himself together since panicking and thinking about the bad stuff like not being able to make it out alive isn't going to make things better. But it looks like the quiet hours will be cut short as the zombies begin to attempt to knock the barricades down with full force with Teddy, Mort, Jimmy Jr, and also Bob and Linda serving as the extras attempting to knock the walls down like it's the Berlin Wall, causing more panic onto the Belchers along with Rudy, Andy, and Ollie. And there's something I didn't even notice when watching the episode firsthand regarding the zombies in the film and how everyone who took up the role had to commit to the bit.
Primarily with Mort as one of the zombies because when putting on the makeup for the film, I did not even notice that he used an actual piece of a brain. A piece of a human brain, possibly from a dead body since he is a mortician, is attached to his head. Not a made-up brain where you had to go to the art store to create a piece of the brain using cotton or something or go to the store, find a tub of Play-Doh, and turn that into a brain, though sticking it for the entirety of the film is going to be a hassle where you may have to use glue or some other sticky substance to make it stick, but look at that with Mort trying to commit to the bit. I know the acting coming from Mort, Teddy, Jimmy Jr, Bob, and Linda as extras when playing the role of the zombies, and this isn't a jab at the voice actors, but the acting coming from Mort, Teddy, Jimmy Jr, Bob, and Linda when taking the zombie role...dare I say that they can't act for shit but this is the best the kids can muster. Not like they have the freaking budget to begin with to make it a good movie, even if it's a homemade one. So, as Bob and Linda had to keep the barricade steady and Tina on camera duty while holding the camera instead of...oh, I don't know...help Bob and Linda keep the barricade steady, Bob and Linda tell Louise and the others to get the supplies to fend off the zombies to make sure the zombies don't continue to attempt their way to get into the restaurant, leading them to the basement and...
Andy turns into a zombie. Right away, Andy gets turned into a zombie and I guess the kids when making the film went for the whole "the call is coming from inside the house" trope when Ollie brought up the bite mark that Andy got and no one saw it the moment he, alongside Ollie and Rudy, were brought into the building. And for anyone who had the show recorded on DVR or had it on a streaming site like Hulu here in the US, or some other site that I’m not going to name names, go to the moment the boys were let in and go slow-mo or at least go frame by frame where you see...I’ll show you the screencap below...
The bite mark on Andy's arm and everyone, but not some, didn't even notice the bite mark until Ollie brought it up just as them, Rudy, and Louise with Gene holding the camera were getting the supplies. It's a cross between the idea of "the call is coming from inside the house" and the unexpected Trojan Horse type of trope when having Andy becomes a zombie, causing the kids to run away but leaves Ollie behind for him to become a zombie, though seems unphased with the reaction of his twin brother becoming a zombie but I bet that he and Andy off-camera in the story of the zombie outbreak in the movie, look at me, critiquing and explaining the stuff of the film the kids made, spent their horror tokens when seeing Jimmy Jr being turned into a zombie himself, even if all three Pesto boys are following the script. The kids run away and leave the basement, leaving Ollie to become a zombie thanks in part to Andy and as if things couldn’t get worse for them...
Bob and Linda are having a lot of trouble keeping the barricade together from being taken down by the zombies. Though, again, Tina, pretty sure you should’ve at least put the camera down and at least help out keeping things together for once. More pressure is added onto Louise courtesy of Tina wanting her to shoot her arrows at the zombies and pretty much prove that Louise isn't hiding something as if she was lying to the camera for clout and exposing herself as a fraud. But Louise continues to weasel her way out to not shoot her arrows during a world-ending event. She, alongside Rudy, improvises by throwing things toward the zombies, which Bob, Linda, and Tina are pretty much peeved off that throwing things isn't going to help keep the barricade steadied unless Louise fires her arrows. She improvises by throwing things like salt and pepper shakers until she ends up throwing the mustard bottle and look at that, the zombies seem to have some sort of weakness towards mustard. Yeah, this almost feels like an anti-mustard propaganda film coming from Louise. Might as well bring the GIF since it’s going to be an important tool for later.
Louise and everyone else noticed that the mustard seemed to be the zombie's kryptonite and there was a series of mustard bottles on the counter and the tables, you'd think that Louise would probably tell Bob, Linda, and Tina to drop what they're doing and fire the mustard bottles but that would abruptly end the film and would make the whole "Louise running away from facing the truth during a world-ending event" sort of arc nothing more than obsolete. So what happens next when noticing that the mustard would serve as a potential weapon to eradicate any zombie? Bob and Linda sacrifice themselves for the kids and Rudy to make a break for it. And even though it's fake, it's all for show, that it is a movie and not an actual event that is happening on the show, you have to give some pointers to Bob and Linda to make it look real under Louise's direction with the film. They made it look like it was a real sacrifice when fending off against the zombies. Telling the kids to take care of themselves and fight for their survival like your usual horror or action movie where the parent had to tell the kid, who happened to be the protagonist, to run away to save themselves and that is what the film is going for with Bob and Linda with this scene to make it look like they’re actually sacrificing themselves for their kids’ safety. And gotta admit, they outperformed that scene and it makes you think that it’s an actual event and it’s them actually sacrificing themselves even though it’s all for the film and putting up an act. That and the short slapstick comedic moment with Jimmy Jr’s hand trying to touch Linda’s hand during the attempted siege and Linda slaps his hand in return. So gotta include that.
We go to the next scene where we prepared to close the first half of the episode to the point where Louise exposes herself as someone who she isn’t when she, along with Tina, Gene, and Rudy, try to get to safety by going to higher ground, that being their apartment with Louise attempting to get the ladder from the fire escape to come down and at a hurry-up pace before the zombified Teddy and Mort (and later Jimmy Jr) make their way towards the kids, so I'm guessing the zombies already compromised Bob and Linda inside the restaurant, either by them or maybe Andy and Ollie who were inside the basement of the restaurant, but besides that, once the ladder comes down, nearly bonking Tina once Louise pulls it down when climbing up to the patio and almost sent her to the Shadow Realm as if we were moments away from a possible Rust situation if things didn’t go well during the filming process. Of course, Rudy becomes the next victim in the zombie fiasco when trying to climb the ladder, only to have his leg caught by Teddy. Knowing that Rudy is the slowest member in the group when trying to get to safety as if he was wearing the group down from getting to higher ground, and when it comes to the horror movie trope, the slowest one ends up getting murked. And of course, gotta have Louise and Tina as what horror movie fans would label as the "final girls" and Gene the "final boy" once we get to the end of the movie. And now...we get to the point where the most predictable the moment the synopsis came out, that being the truth. The severity of the attack had gone out of the Belcher kids' hands the moment Bob and Linda in the film sacrificed themselves and now with Rudy struggling to be let go of the Zombie Teddy's grasp and the pressure had been mounting onto Louise with her being unable to shoot a single arrow and yep...
Louise finally exposes herself as the fraud that she is at the end of the first half of the episode and goes into the second with the revelation that she's not the so-called "world-renowned archer" that she is at the beginning of the episode. The realization was there the moment Tina brought up that she wanted to document Louise firing an arrow without the use of editing or adding a past clip or two, just to save her ego and make sure that she didn't want to lose her fifteen minutes of fame. I mean, it sort of feels like it's the Mr. Satan effect when it comes to Louise in this film in this episode. If you don't know what I'm saying? I don't blame you and I might as well define it. So, in Dragon Ball Z, in the Cell Saga, right around the Cell Games, you had Cell challenging every warrior across the planet to fight him one-on-one for the fate of the planet, primarily wanting to fight Goku, and one of the fighters who accepted the invitation was Hercule Satan…who got murked right away but ended up taking all the credits for the people once Goku sacrificed himself and Gohan (with some help from Vegeta with one blast to cause Cell to lose his guard) killing Cell but a lot of people doesn't know that and believe that Mr. Satan was the one who did the deed, even though that's not the case but prove that at a time where the world was about to come to an end, people would fall to the lies and pretty much proved that people are idiots. And I guess that's what we saw with Louise all the way to where we are in this episode and this film.
And I guess you could say this film that the kids had made with Louise in the film thinking that she’s some sort of hot shot archer, only to be questioned if she’s actually legitimate feels like it’s giving you vibes to the movie with Louise wanting to prove to herself that she can be brave after being called out by Chloe Barbash over her refusal to do the dead man’s jump because that would result in her ears being detached from her head. And you can see Louise acting when trying to fire the arrow but is unable to do it and comes out as a fraud sort of feels like that from the movie, mostly with the scene with her wanting to explore the sinkhole but coming close to abandoning the plan before falling and of course, feeling defeat when her and the family were mere moments away from being sent to the lobby and gasping for air. So I’m betting the inspiration behind the film would be a mixture of that and I wanna guess Bob’s little experience over at Babylon Island a few episodes ago regarding the retreat that turned upside down.
The second half starts with the severity of the zombie outbreak becoming worse by the hour with Rudy getting caught by the zombies on his way up to the higher ground but ignoring that, Louise revealing herself to be a fraud becomes the main topic after coming out to Tina, Gene, and Rudy, on-camera...caught in...would say 4k but I'm sure the Belchers can't afford getting a 4k camera unless Bob's phone, Linda's phone, or the emergency phone but Louise had confessed to the camera that she can't shoot for shit and thus, exposed to being the fraud that she is. Tina takes one of Louise's arrows and throws it to Rudy for him to use as a spear and stabs it through Teddy's head because when it comes to your usual zombie apocalypse movie or TV show, the head is usually the weak spot for the zombie to go out of commission. That's what Rudy thought when "jabbing" the arrow onto Teddy's head, even though it's the headband prop with the arrow going through the head but not really, but apparently, gotta throw that trope out to the gutter and knowing that Rudy is the slowest and the weakest member of the Belcher kids' group, one of the weakest members since Darryl is also one of the weakest in the group when it comes to strength, I miss my boy, alright?!
Rudy becomes the next person up to become a zombie with Teddy, Mort, and Jimmy Jr eating him up like he's Thanksgiving dinner and giving props to Rudy for going all out with him letting out a primal scream when being eaten. And without going through an asthmatic attack that would have him go out of character and the production to be suspended for a bit. But man, Rudy went hard with that scene and you have to give mad props to Brian Huskey for him to know on what he was doing with this scene. And with Rudy appearing more in this season alone, this is his sixth appearance in nine episodes, six of nine...nice, and uh...a lot of Rudy content this season, and uh...yeah, Rudy letting out that scream was pretty much pure perfection.
The Belcher kids enter the apartment for their safety as Rudy gets transformed into a zombie after being consumed by the pack of zombies with Tina being disappointed, not mad or upset, but disappointed that Louise reveals herself to be nothing more than a fraud who Mickey Mouse her way to become an internet celebrity and fooling people for clout. Telling Louise why she should've said it earlier before filming or should've picked up archery lessons the moment she got the kit when opening her presents with Louise telling Tina and Gene that she can't tell that she's not good at archery to the point where she had to create a fake persona to the point where she thinks that it's embarrassing for her to come out and say that she's bad at archery or didn't take up lessons because she would be bored in the first five minutes of the lessons that she would step out and call it quits. And out of nowhere at the wrong possible time in the film, a musical number had to come into play with Louise singing to herself about her revealing herself to be a fraud. Her having a come-to-Jesus moment about why she should've come out clean about who she really is and blames herself for her parents and friends left to die because she was an idiot about who she pretends to be instead of who she really is. Having a musical number, coming to Jesus moment...in the middle of a world-ending event! Of course, Tina had to abruptly end the musical number as, again, world-ending event with the zombies making their way up, apparently, the zombies here still have some remnants of intelligence after being transformed into zombies when seeing Mort and Teddy coming up with a game plan to get up to the apartment by lifting Rudy up and later themselves to storm into the apartment.
The zombies are preparing to go on the attack on the Belcher kids with them being the only survivors in the building and now that Louise is exposed to be a fraud and can't shoot for shit, they are fucked. Like the 2023 New York Jets hoping for a turnaround to get a playoff spot so the quarterback that they picked up through a trade to come back from injury only to find out that he's done for the year from the front office and dashed their playoffs hope type of fucked. Louise noticed from earlier that mustard seemed to be the zombie's weakness after throwing a mustard bottle that resulted in a zombified Jimmy Jr reacting negatively to the condiment touching his hand and deciding to pull out the various jars and types of mustards from the fridge for each of the Belcher siblings to use. We're talking normal mustard, spicy mustard, honey mustard, all that shit. But not Dijon mustard or wasabi, which is a type of mustard in the conversation to fend off the zombies but I guess what’s done is done. I mean, they can’t be that expensive...the wasabi I mean. The Dijon, I’m pretty sure it has to be pricey because that’s pretty much rich people mustard. The kids fire the mustard at the zombies, again, I swear this is film is pretty much anti-mustard propaganda, for them to make a break for it to get to higher ground. You thought that they would make it to the roof, or at least the attic but instead, it’s Louise’s room and going on top of Louise’s loft bed for higher ground and trying to come up with a game plan while barricading the room by pushing the bookshelf to block the door...but it's not enough for the shelf to block the door altogether because that resulted in the door being open and of course...
It's Jimmy Jr who is coming into the room and, of course, Tina is getting off-character when facing against a zombified Jimmy Jr because knowing Tina, mixing both of her obsessions, that being zombies and her affection for Jimmy Jr, is going to get Tina to go off the script. And I would not be surprised if Tina, right after filming the home movie, would go and write an erotic friend fiction about all of this in the way how she would write. Tina's affection towards Jimmy Jr was this close to her becoming a zombie fast food but to no one’s surprise, Louise finally found her groove and all it took for Louise, in the film, to finally come to terms and fire the shot onto Jimmy Jr’s head with a mustard-covered arrow and all it took is for her older sister to be in the line of danger. That’s what it took for Louise to finally shoot the arrow by herself without bullshitting her way and it was seeing Tina on the verge of becoming zombie food as if it’s her actual instincts starting to kick in even if it’s all for show. But yeah, Louise finally found her groove to close the third act and go into the fourth and final act of the episode...
The Belcher kids strike back at the zombies as Tina runs her way to the top of the bed with Louise pouring the different types of mustard onto her bed, without having to worry about the stain or the scent of the condiment because she had to stay committed for the bit, and of course, the kids fire back, rather, Louise fires back with her finally having the cajones to shoot the arrows on her own than using the powers of editing, unless you're the zombies getting hit with the arrows, with Gene supplying the mustard and Tina with the arrows for Louise to shoot with her legs holding the bow instead of using her arms since she is using the arms for the arrows, and it's wham, bam, thank you ma'am as she attacks every zombie, mostly Mort, Teddy, Jimmy Jr, Rudy, and both Bob and Linda in costume with their bodies being exchanged with life-sized sack dummies to fill in the spot after getting hit the arrow. Though not going to pretend that Andy and Ollie, who are still zombies, are still trapped inside the basement. And once the zombified Bob and Linda enter the chat, you'd think that the kids would hesitate to take them out of commission because even though they're zombies, that's their parents and they might be in debate mode on whether or not they want to do the jo-
Or just shoots them out of their misery courtesy of Louise. Yeah, she just does it alongside Tina and Gene because fuck sentimentality because we had that earlier in the film with the sacrifice, so just put Bob and Linda in the film out of commission for the Belcher kids to finally made the home stretch...until more hoard of zombies came knocking on the door, mostly everyone but Rudy and the Twins in different costumes, and this is where we get to the point of some films where the hero makes a heroic sacrifice for everyone else who is left standing to make a break for it. That is what Louise is planning on doing to face off against the zombies and that is what she is doing...which didn’t get on-camera because...
We head back to reality with the Belchers sitting and watching the home movie. Getting a front-row seat with the family being test watchers to see if the movie is good or not for them to make notes. Bob was about to question if Louise in the film planning to sacrifice herself was going to be the end of the film, you know, the hero makes the sacrifice for everyone else, that being Tina and Gene to make a break for it and survive, and have ourselves an epilogue ready years later or some shit with Tina and Gene making it out alive and telling the story, or at least, watching the video of Louise as if she’s some sort of hero. Apparently, that’s not the case because the film is not yet over according to Louise.
We go back to the movie with Tina and Gene talking about what just happened and asking each other if they survived the invasion, which they did, and it looks like Louise survived as well from what would've been a heroic sacrifice. The reason is that Louise is covered in mustard stains, not to mention the stench of the condiment because of the use of mustard that was used for the arrows, is what caused the zombies to be taken out of commission before even thinking about firing an arrow or two at them as if she's in One Piece and obtained Conqueror's Haki. Regardless, the zombie invasion at the apartment and in the restaurant has come to an end but the apocalypse has only begun for Louise, Tina, and Gene to arm themselves with the arrows before heading out to find more mustard for them to carry and now, we end the film as the credits roll.
And gotta admit, not too bad coming from Louise to do the handiwork herself, and also some help from everything from her family and her friends alongside Mort and Teddy, but you have to give it to Louise for what she did to make the movie possible. But it was never explained on what the movie is for, either for a school project or some filmmaking contest, if any, it would probably be because Louise just feels like it or she has an idea out of nowhere and wants to do it right away before she ends up forgetting it. That seems to be the decent choice to go with on what to describe the film. But other than that, it was an interesting film that Louise made and her filmmaking skills had paid off. Everyone did their part as well when doing their acting in front of the camera, though some may need to work on their acting. But the commitment was there, especially with Bob being okay with him and the family having to disassemble the restaurant to create the barricades, which they have to reassemble once we get to the credits. Though Bob was hoping for the restaurant to at least get a promotion in the form of a shout-out at the credits and also hoping for Mort, Teddy, Rudy, Jimmy Jr, Andy, and Ollie to have their names to be in the credits in the "special thanks" portion of the credits but instead, it's Gene's imaginary friend Ken who gets the special thanks. So, you could say that they'll be uncredited and get screwed out from having their names added to the credits despite Louise's call for a sequel as if she just admit that the sequel is in the works. But other than that, it's an interesting film and you have to give props to Louise for showing off her moviemaking skills and capturing everything from...well, pretty much everything at a young age. Oh yeah, and there's also a brief jumpscare at the end of the episode, at the end of the credits with Rudy in zombie makeup giving people a bit of a "fright". Just had to bring it up before anyone comes up to the comments or in my DMs that I didn't include the Rudy jumpscare. You're welcome.
Reaction/Thoughts:
So all and all, what do I think about this week's episode of Bob's Burgers? Well, I had to rewatch the episode a few times to get a better understanding. I didn't enjoy it at first because of how predictable the episode was, and it still is, but going through that the more I had to rewatch it, it was an interesting and alright episode. Primarily since most of the episode has been all on the film made by Louise and Louise’s filmmaking skills had paid off to have, not just her family who had to serve as the test audience, but also us, the viewers, the fans to watch the whole damn thing from start to finish.
Sure, the idea of Louise in the film being a fraud after proclaiming that she’s sort of hot shot when being an archer was predictable when the synopsis came out a few weeks ago, knowing where the episode was going where her lies are about to catch up to her, especially when reaching the end of the second act and going into the third as the zombie apocalypse was taking place, but you have to give it to Louise for what she was doing in the writing, producing, and directing the process of the film and even though it almost feels like we were given flashbacks to the movie with her character arc of her wanting to be brave mixed with Bob's Friday Night outing gone wrong over at Babylon Island alongside Fischoeder to have the mind process being built for Louise to create the film to come to life.
Even though the acting for some of the people, that being the friends to the Belchers, mostly Mort and Teddy...and I guess the Pesto boys need some work, the acting from Bob, Linda, and Rudy were the ones that I somewhat enjoyed and they did their best to convince to fan to treat it as if it’s an actual zombie outbreak. Bob and Linda sold it with their sacrifice at the end of the second act. And the same goes for Rudy in the third act with him giving out a convincing scream when being consumed by the zombies. Like, holy damn, dude. Like holy damn. Watching those scenes almost feels like you’re actually seeing this happening in the show without noticing that it’s all for show for the film and uh...they sold it. They really sold it.
Other than that, the visuals for the episode to go analogy with the static from the camera look good when filming the whole movie from start to finish. The idea of Louise in the film being a fraud was predictable from the start but she did go all the way out by the end when following the script with her having her lies exposed to the point where metaphorically has blood in her hands because of her lies when dealing with something that is way out of her control like a zombie outbreak. I mean, you kinda wish that the cause of the outbreak would've at least been explained like what's the cause of it but I'm already guessing that Louise doesn't want to go and use the most obvious cause of an outbreak and instead decided to keep it hush-hush. And uh...yeah, didn't enjoy it at first but became an interesting episode when I gave it a second watch. So I'll give "Fraud of the Dead: Zombie-docu-pocalypse"...
A 7 out of 10. I had to be generous with the scoring despite not liking it at first, so it’s a 7 out of 10 for this week’s episode. But that’s my opinion and I wanna hear yours in the comments below. No new episode this upcoming Sunday but we got a new one in two weeks on December 17 with a Christmas episode, the first and only time we’ll get a holiday episode this season with the Belchers going to the Fischoeders for the holidays, mostly because no one wants to celebrate Christmas without power and heat in the tenth episode of Season 14, “The Nightmare 2 Days Before Christmas”.
Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, and Bluesky for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. My thoughts on the cancellation of Central Park were already posted while working on the introduction of this review, so check that out. The Final Round of the 2023 Battle of the Week Voting Tournament is already underway between Jolyne Cujoh (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) and, of course, Louise Belcher (Bob's Burgers) for the championship title. Link to the poll in my various social pages. And, of course, y'all should know the drill by now...
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